Allyson

Every bit of it was stunning though I will have to return when it is not so hot and not so touristy.

We spent one day in Siena out of our week in Tuscany and I’d like to return to it at some point in the future. The duomo is fantastic and was quite a haven for us as the sun was so hot that day.

This is the one place I absolutely, without a doubt, wanted to see while staying in Rome for 3 days. I could not believe the line for the Vatican Museums, but it moved so quickly I was able to make it inside in an hour. The amount of people crammed into the Sistine Chapel was obnoxious. Still, I managed to take a good half-hour to gaze at the art and, when I managed to find a seat, take some time to reflect on the preciousness of Italy.

...and I don’t regret a bit of it! I did flew into Rome on my own and stayed in a great hostel for a few nights (Yellow Hostel—I highly recommend it). I hit most of the sights (Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, etc.) and ordered dinner in my broken Italian and met a few interesting people along the way. It was a very rewarding experience.

We took a quick trip up to Maine this past Saturday afternoon. The traffic was a bit dense on the way up from Boston but once we got through some of the clogged spots it was fairly quick. We stopped in Kennebunkport and walked out onto the rock piers. I swear it was 10 or 15 degrees cooler out there. We talked and watched the boats. I’d love to come back and see the rest of Maine sometime soon.

It’s too bad the heart of Palmyra still looks scummy. Some of the houses really have character and could benefit from a town facelift. I used to live about 10 minutes away from Palmyra and would drive through it frequently while growing up. I still drive through it every time I come home to visit my parents. It’s right off the NY State Thruway.

We stayed in Milano for the last days of our trip as we were flying out of Malpensa. The duomo is impressive – worth a look, for sure, but the rest of the city felt like it lacked the spirit of Italy that I fell in love with while in Tuscany.

Poggibonsi was our Tuscan homebase for a week on our trip and I beg to differ with the Rough Guide folks to call it an “ugly industrial town.” We stayed in a castle on a hill and ate fabulous food at a nearby restaurant while watching the sun go down. I had a favorite spot to eat breakfast—cappuccino and pastries. And our evening passeggiata through town, window-shopping and cooling off in the night air, is one of my favorite memories of the entire trip.

I <3 the tra que chai.

yum.